The Shoot

We set up the studio with two stations, one where you take photos from a eye-level angle, and one where you take images from a birds-eye view.

• 

• 

For these photos, I selected objects that were lended to us from the Jersey Archives that are actual objects from WW2. I chose to photographs both images of just one singular object, but I also selected multiple objects to create a narrative.

Selection

In Adobe Lightroom Classic cc, I used the color rating system to select the images that I thought were the best and I wanted to edit them. First I made them all yellow, meaning a maybe and then after manipulating my images I rated the best photographs as a green. 

The Yellow Rated Photos

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I rated these images as yellow as I believe they are of a better standard of the majority of the photographs, however, there are some technical difficulties that can't be completely fixed in Lightroom such as lighting differences or some focusing problems. I decided to show these photos to display my selection process and to acknowledge my mistakes in order to learn from them. What I would change next time is where the lights are situated and make sure they hit both the object and background in order to ensure that there aren't patches in the background that are darker than others.

The Green Rated Photos

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

These are what I think are my best images. The focus is crisp and the objects are interesting. I particularly enjoyed photographing multiple objects together to create a scenario. For example, placing the bandage pots and soap bar in front of the First Aid box creates the concept that those items might've been included in the box. I also liked filling up the bag with multiple items that the islanders or soldiers may want to have on them all the time. I also liked taking the birds-eye-view image of the German Occupation of Jersey book. Although I overall preferred taking the images from eye-level, I enjoyed the learning process behind taking the images from the birds-eye-view. I also like the mirror-like effect that the objects reflect onto the surface. It adds more depth into the images and overall make the images more eye-catching. To improve next time, again, I would focus on rearranging the lighting more. I want the images to be a bit brighter and I don't like the blueish/grey effect the background has. I tried to adjust this on Lightroom, but there is only so much adjusting I was able to do.

Composition

On thing I really learnt from this shoot is the composition of the objects can make or break the image. Here is an example:

• 

• 

The image on the left is unedited. I wanted to photograph this radio and headphone set but I wasn't happy with how it was turning out. I kept trying to move the wire and headphones into different placed and angles but I just knew something was missing. After trying to make the image work, I decided to see if introducing another object would make the scenario look better. I then found the mini crystal radio set that islanders made and used to find out the news. By linking these already similar objects together added a lot more depth to the image and made it overall more interesting. The similarities between the top of the crystal radio and the headphones are eye catching and the different shapes of the crystal radio adds depth to the photo.

For our introduction into the objects section of our coursework we were to take pictures of archive objects in the studio. We had a lesson in which we were taught how to uses the different lights and how to sync them with the cameras as well as setting up the correct white balance, shutter speed and aperture. There were two different angles used to create these images, downwards and forwards. All my images were created in artificial lighting through the use of tungsten and flash lights in the studio. There is high level of control in the positioning of each object through a system of taking the photo, examining the position and relocating the object if necessary. I kept my aperture at F16 to ensure I had a wide depth of field and ISO at 125. My white balance was sunlight so that there was accurate white colour balance to complement the objects colour tones. In light room I used the spot removal tool to get rid of smear and rain marks that were on camera I used in the studio, that I wasn’t aware was dirty at the time.

This image features two CD’s with songs from the occupation that were played and sang by people from Jersey. I positioned them centrally at equal angles and with a white background to make them the focal point. The use of artificial lighting creates a reflection of the plastic casing and disc. This image is simplistic from the out look but conceptually the symmetry of the CD’s symbolise the stability music gave to many people. Music was a form of escapism for many, to enjoy and forget about times of hardship. War songs were sang by those in the battle fields to raise spirits of the thought of one day returning home and singing it with the ones they love.

This image features a bandage and its packaging from the time of the occupation. I wanted to have as white a background as possible so that the red would stand out as the focal point of the image. I chose this item as I felt the red box work in harmony with the use of the bandage being to cover up bloody wounds, the literal works as its metaphorical colour. It is ironic that the inside of the packaging will soon look like the outside, this is similar to a soldier at war. The soldier one day many physically be wounded and as time goes on that outside damage becomes internal and mental.

For this image the positions of the hat were limited so I didn’t have any options to work with. I set the camera up in front of the reflective screen as I knew metal helmet along with the flash lights would create a mirroring reflection beneath. The reflection represents the person underneath the hat, ones the hat comes off you dissociate the person with being a soldier but that person never forgets they are a soldier. It’s a metaphor for the trauma they have to walk around with for the rest of their lives, some may say they are lucky because they made it out alive and never have go to battle again but for ex-soldier they are forever wearing that hat and the memories it holds.

This tiny box may look insigificant but it holds great importance to the occupied people of Jersey. I did minimal cropping as I wanted the large amounts of background to emphasise the lack of awareness the world today has about rationing and although we aren’t experiencing war there are many families rationing. People below the poverty line are having to plan what they eat to see if they can afford it, some aren’t having enough food because they simply can’t afford it. During the occupation people were going through the same thing but not necessarily because of money but lack of access the Island had to food.

This is one of my favourite images from the shoot because of it’s minimalistic feel. In order to create this photo I went through a trial and error process to achieve this positioning of the book, first I had to upright but it sat at an odd angle and I struggled to keep it stagnant. I am planning on using this image for a photo-montage which is way I left some negative space above the book. I wanted to include the spine of the book because it’s what keeps it altogether which is symbolic of how people use diaries to express their emotions which can be a way of keeping your mental health in one stable piece.

I used an downwards angle to create this image, where I had to stand on a ladder to look through the lense, which makes it harder to centralise the object as accurately as possible. Although the image didn’t come out to be symmetrical, I liked the authenticity of it’s positioning. To me is reminded me of a scene on a movie where someone slams down the newspaper on the table and it lays at an skew angle until someone picks it up. Newspapers at the time were so important to people because other than the radio it was their only access to the news, so anyone who could afford it had it.

Who Invented It?

The Autochrome process, also known as the Autochrome Lumière, was invented in France by brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière. The commercial manufacture of autochrome plates began in 1907, and the first public demonstration of the autochrome process took place on 10 June 1907, at the offices of the French newspaper L‘Illustration.

How Does It Work?

Autochrome plates are covered in microscopic red, green and blue colored potato starch grains (about four million per square inch). When the photograph is taken, light passes through these colour filters to the photographic emulsion. The plate is processed to produce a positive transparency. Light, passing through the colored starch grains, combines to recreate a full colour image of the original subject.

How Was It Made?

transparent starch grains were first passed through a series of sieves to isolate grains between ten and fifteen microns thick. These microscopic starch grains were separated into batches, then dyed red, green and violet, mixed together and spread over a glass plate coated with a sticky varnish. Next charcoal powder was spread over the plate to fill in any gaps between the coloured starch grains. A roller with over five tons per square centimetre of pressure was applied in order to spread the grains and flatten them out. Finally, the plate was coated with a panchromatic photographic emulsion.

A tradition in my family is to regularly go out for family meals on a Sunday. Our lives are heavily family orientated with constant excuses for celebrations. This photo shoot was taken when I went to France and we went for our family meal with close family friends to a gourmet Chinese. I used standard flash to create a candid feel but to achieve the establishing shot, I got them all to stand in the order they wanted to.

Originally I wanted to capture only one or two objects together, as to not over-complicate the image, however the more I played around with the idea of using different objects together to create a scene, the more I got into it. As you can see, my first images only featured a couple of objects, where as the later ones, in my opinion, feel more alive and have more personality that my starting photos, and help create the effect of authentic occupation items.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In Depth Analysis:

I wanted to create a slightly less cluttered image compared to the previous one, but still wanted to tell a story. In my mind, these objects belong to a British soldier who is delivering a red cross package and food rations to a family, and has rested his helmet next to the parcel after relieving it the family. Obviously creative liberties have been made in order to show off the objects in the best way possible, but represents this story to me personally. I also wanted this image to be slightly less saturated to show a contrast between the happiness that islanders felt after liberation, and all of the hardships that they have been through over the previous years. Alternatively, the helmet can also be used to represent this oppression in contrast to the Red Cross Parcel.

For this image I wanted to make it look as though a bag was dropped, and the contents had spilled onto the ground. For this reason, I wanted to make the contents seem as realistic as possible, for a satchel being carried by an average citizen. Therefore, I included a tin of rations which has been slightly obscured by the bandages in front. This person would also have been carrying a small crystal radio set, which has been thrown out by the bag hitting the ground.

I used the rule of thirds as well as the leading lines of the open satchel to draw the eye to the bandage tin in the left, where the viewer can follow the line of unraveled bandage along to the radio set as well as the other tin further back in the bag. In hindsight it may have been a better idea to move the ration tin further to the right the first bandage tin, and perhaps rested it on the tin that is further in the background, as the view would have an idea of what it looks like due to the one in the foreground.

For my studio shoots myself and max had decided that it would be best if I tried to get some other things that my family had during the occupation and we could use alongside with the things that were being provided for us from the archive.

We had three different methods to shoot the objects available to us, there was a still life table, which is good as it means you can get lighting from all sides including from behind. We could also make a horizon with coloured card and there was a rig to do top shoots.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

These results above are from the Still life table the skull is one that we were able to obtain from school and everything else (other than the helmet) was from my grandads time in the occupation.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

These images are ones that we took using the coloured horizon, all of these objects are ones that were provided by the archive. I chose the coloured cards as they are complementary colours, they also have strong contrast to the objects that are the subject.

The idea of creating auto chromes came about when there was a high demand to create colour images.

The first practicable method of colour photography was the autochrome process, invented in France by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Best known for their invention of the Cinématographe in 1895, the Lumières began commercial manufacture of autochrome plates in the early 20th century.

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW AUTOCHROMES CAN BE MADE TODAY:

Above is an example of how autochromes can be made at home using fairly primitive and easy to get items. Although a lengthy and sometimes difficult process, autochromes can still be made today.

These are close up shots of the makeup of an autochrome, the tiny specs of pigment can be clearly distinguished from one another, all working together to create an image. Although most photos look extremely colourful, made up of various tones and shades, in reality most images are made up of just different combinations of the same three primary colours, red, blue and yellow.

EXAMPLES OF AUTO CHROMES:

IMAGE ANALYSIS:

VISUAL:

In terms of the visual aspects of the image, the first impression which comes to mind is the graininess of the image but this is very typical of the photography style. There is also a slight vignette around the border of the image which may be a result of the technology of the time or due to the fact that the image has aged slightly and therefore the coloraturas around the edges of the image has faded drastically. There is a very clear foreground and background with the family and kids being entered around. large cannon in the foreground and the trees and buildings being situated in the backdrop. This is quite an interesting image in terms of the composition and the subjects as this was taken during the early 20th century, when coloured photography was in its infancy. Seeing the men and women dressed in period specific clothing being displayed in a coloured image is very conflicting as they almost look out of place and strange within the image. As this is an auto chrome, and early version of coloured photography, the colour scheme is subtle and we can see any variations of soft beiges and other muted tones.

TECHNICAL:

As these images are auto chromes and early versions of colour photography, the standard setup for photography as we know it today has not been used in this case, in order to create an image. The process, called autochrome, involved covering a glass plate with a thin wash of tiny potato starch grains dyed red, green, and blue, thus creating a filter. A thin layer of emulsion was added over that. When the plate was flipped and exposed to light, the resulting image could be developed into a transparency.Like early black and white photography, autochrome was a slow process. Because exposures were long, subjects had to stay still—sometimes unsuccessfully—to avoid a blurred image. But with autochrome, the blur had an unusual aesthetic effect: Paired with the soft, dyed colors, it made the photo look like a painting.

CONTEXTUAL:

Color photography was available long before the technology for color printing came along in 1941, when Kodak made it possible to order prints from Kodachrome slides. Because printing wasn’t an option, Autochromes were best viewed as projections or with the aid of special equipment, such as a diascope.  The Autochrome process was used to produce color photography well into the 1930s, but fell out of use as advances in subtractive color film processing allowed for a wider spectrum of color to be captured.

CONCEPTUAL:

When photography was invented in 1839, it was a black-and-white medium, and it remained that way for almost one hundred years. Photography then was a fragile, cumbersome, and expensive process. In order to practice, photographers needed a lot of extra money and time, or a sponsor. 

In that early period, the people advancing photographic technology tended to focus not on achieving color photographs but on making improvements in the optical, chemical, and practical aspects of photography. For many, the goal was to make photography more suitable for portraiture—its most desired application. For that, photographic technology needed to be more stable, portable, and affordable, not more colorful. There was a steady demand for the need of colour photography therefore experimentation with the topic came about, kickstarting the invention of auto chromes and other various methods of achieved colour through photographic imagery.

First Edit:

Edit 2: